Method of manufacturing a printed circuit board

ABSTRACT

Printed circuit boards have circuit layers with one or more copper filled through-holes and methods of manufacturing the same. An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention enhances thermal characteristics of filled through-holes of printed circuit boards to provide extra reliability to the printed circuit boards. In one embodiment, a printed circuit broad has a plurality of through-holes to connect copper patterns on different layers of the printed circuits broad. Here, at least one of the through-holes is copper plated closed at both ends with at least 70% volume of the through-hole plated with copper to, e.g., enhance thermal characteristics of the through-hole, thereby providing extra reliability to the printed circuit board. In one embodiment, the printed circuit board includes a surface conductor (or cap) that is directly plated over the copper filled barrel plated through-hole.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/070,811 filed Feb. 20, 2008 and entitled Method of Manufacturing APrinted Circuit Board, which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/902,545, filed on Feb. 20, 2007, theentire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to multilayer printed wiring boards withthrough-holes and methods of manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

Most electronic systems include printed wiring (or circuit) boards withhigh density electronic interconnections. A printed circuit board mayinclude one or more circuit cores, substrates, or carriers. In onefabrication scheme for the printed circuit board having the one or morecircuit carriers, electronic circuitries (e.g., pads, electronicinterconnects, patterns, etc.) are fabricated onto opposite sides of anindividual circuit carrier to form a pair of circuit layers. Thesecircuit layer pairs of the circuit board may then be physically andelectronically joined to form the printed circuit board by fabricatingan adhesive (or a prepreg or a bond ply), stacking the circuit layerpairs and the adhesives in a press, curing the resulting circuit boardstructure, mechanically drilling (or laser drilling) through-holes, andthen plating the through-holes with a copper material to interconnectthe circuit layer pairs.

In some designs requiring high reliability, these printed circuit boardsare formed by filling the through-holes with a conductive ink (e.g.,CB100, manufactured by DuPont, Inc., or equivalent substitute fromdifferent supplier(s)) or a non-conductive ink (e.g., PHP-900,manufactured by San-Ei Kagaku Co. Ltd., or equivalent substitute fromdifferent supplier). These ink filled holes are more reliable thannon-filled holes because the cured ink plug acts as support to thehole-wall and keeps it in place.

However, reliability problems may still occur with these printed circuitboards having the ink filled holes. These reliability problems typicallyoccur during the component assembly process of the printed circuitboards because this is when the printed circuit boards are exposed to aseries of thermal heat excursions. It is during these thermal heatexcursions that a conductor on a surface (e.g., a copper plated cap) ofa plated through-hole that is filled with ink materials can separatefrom the electrolytic copper plated hole-wall as shown by the arrows inFIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B.

In order to help reduce this separation, IPC (Association ConnectingElectronics Industries) introduced some new requirements known as“wraparound plating thickness” (IPC-6012B Amendment 1-December 2006Qualification and Performance Specification for Rigid Printed Boards).This wraparound copper does help to reduce the occurrence of surfaceconductor separation from holes with barrel-plated copper as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4.

However, the wraparound plating thickness does not completely eliminatethe occurrences of circuit board failures, such as surface conductorseparation from holes with barrel-plated copper as shown by the arrowsin FIGS. 5 and 6. At the same time, the wraparound plating thicknessmakes it very difficult and almost impossible to manufacture some of thedesigns with sequential lamination cycles (e.g., where a sub-componentof a circuit board is laminated again more circuit layers or anothersub-component of the circuit board) and/or designs with multiple blindvia holes that start at a common conductor layer. Each wraparoundprocess increases the surface plated copper by approximately 0.0005″.This increase in the surface plated copper reduces the space betweentraces, limiting the ability to produce fine line conductors on thelayers with wrap plating.

Furthermore, the conductive or non-conductive ink filled holes need tobe planarized (leveled) after the through-holes are filled with ink andcured. Occasionally, this planarization operation removes the wraparoundcopper that was previously plated. The printed circuit boards with nowraparound copper are subject to rejection as per IPC-6012B. Thiscondition renders the printed circuit boards susceptible to have thecopper plated cap separate from the hole-wall as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.Unfortunately and as mentioned above, this separation of the cap fromthe hole-wall may happen during the component assembly process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention enhances thermalcharacteristics of through-holes of printed circuit boards to provideextra reliability to the printed circuit boards.

An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention maximizes (orincreases) a contact (or bond) surface area between a surface conductor(or cap) and a copper filled through hole.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a printed circuit broad isprovided with a plurality of through-holes to connect copper patterns ondifferent layers of the printed circuits broad. Here, at least one ofthe through-holes is copper plated closed at both ends with at least 70%volume of the through-hole plated with copper to, e.g., enhance thermalcharacteristics of the through-hole, thereby providing extra reliabilityto the printed circuit board.

In another embodiment of present invention, a method of manufacturing aprinted circuit board having a plurality of circuit layers withthrough-holes to connect copper patterns on different layers of theprinted circuit board is provided. The method includes plate-closing atleast one of the through-holes with electrolytic copper plating and thenforming a surface conductor (or cap) that directly plates over thecopper filled through-hole.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method ofmanufacturing a printed circuit board having a plurality of circuitlayers with at least one through-hole to connect copper patterns ondifferent layers of the printed circuit board is provided. The methodincludes laminating the plurality of circuit layers with each other toform the circuit board with a first solid copper layer and a secondsolid copper layer respectively as both outermost layers of the circuitboard, drilling at least one through-hole into the laminated circuitlayers, metalizing (e.g., electroless coppering) the drilled circuitlayers with the at least one through-hole, applying a resist (e.g.,coating a photo resist) on both outermost layers of the circuit layers,and patterning the resist on both outermost layers of the circuit layersto expose the at least one through-hole to an electrolytic platingsolution. In addition, the method includes electrolytic copper platingthe at least one through-hole with the electrolytic plating solution toplate close the at least one through-hole, removing the resist,planarizing excess copper plated on both outermost layers of the circuitlayers, and forming a conductive cap on at least one outermost layer ofthe circuit layers to cover the copper filled through-hole.

In one embodiment, the at least one through-hole is formed by mechanicaldrilling.

In one embodiment, the forming the conductive cap to cover the copperfilled through-hole includes cleaning the planarized circuit layers withthe copper filled through-hole, applying a second resist (e.g., coatinga second photo resist) on both outermost layers of the circuit layerswith the copper filled through-hole, patterning the second resist on atleast one outermost layer of the circuit layers to image the conductivecap on the copper filled through-hole, plating copper directly over thecopper filled through-hole to form the conductive cap, removing thesecond resist, and etching the at least one outermost layer of thecircuit layers to form the circuit board.

In one embodiment, the forming the conductive cap to cover the copperfilled through-hole includes forming the conductor cap to directly plateover the copper filled through-hole.

In one embodiment, the copper plating the at least one through-hole withthe electrolytic plating solution to plate close the at least onethrough-hole includes barrel plating the at least one through-hole withthe electrolytic plating solution to plate close the at least onethrough-hole.

In one embodiment, the copper plating the at least one through-hole withthe electrolytic plating solution to plate close the at least onethrough-hole includes plating the at least one through-hole with atleast 70% volume of the at least one though-hole with copper.

In one embodiment, the copper plating the at least one through-hole withthe electrolytic plating solution to plate close the at least onethrough-hole includes plating the at least one through-hole with enoughelectrolytic plated copper to plate close both ends of the at least onethough-hole.

In one embodiment, the copper plating the at least one through-hole withthe electrolytic plating solution to plate close the at least onethrough-hole includes enhancing a thermal characteristic of the at leastone through-hole.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a printed circuit boardincludes a plurality of circuit layers, each of the plurality of circuitlayers having a copper pattern, and at least one copper filledthrough-hole adapted to connect the copper patterns on different layersof the plurality of circuit layers. Here, the at least one copper filledthough-hole is electrolytic copper plated closed at both ends of the atleast one copper filled though-hole.

In one embodiment, the printed circuit board further includes aconductive cap adapted to cover the at least one copper filledthrough-hole.

In one embodiment, the at least one copper filled through-hole is amechanical drilled through-hole.

In one embodiment, the printed circuit board further includes aconductive cap copper plated directly over the at least one copperfilled through-hole.

In one embodiment, the at least one copper filled through-hole is platedclose at both ends with at least 70% by volume of the through-holeplated with copper.

In one embodiment, the at least one copper filled through-hole includesa plurality of through-holes electrolytic copper plated closed at bothends with at least 70% volume of the through-holes plated with copper.

In one embodiment, the at least one copper filled through-hole includesa plurality of through-holes, and each of the through-holes iselectrolytic copper plated closed at both ends with at least 70% volumeof the corresponding through-hole plated with copper.

In one embodiment, the at least one copper filled through-hole is abarrel plated through-hole.

In one embodiment, the at least one copper filled through-hole includesenough electrolytic plated copper to plate close both ends of the atleast one copper filled though-hole.

In one embodiment, the at least one copper filled through-hole enhancesa thermal characteristic of the printed circuit board.

In one embodiment, the plurality of circuit layers of the printedcircuit includes at least two, three or four circuit layers, and the atleast one copper filled through-hole passes through the at least two,three, or four circuit layers to connect the copper patterns ondifferent circuit layers.

In one embodiment, the printed circuit board is a sub-component printedcircuit board or an entire component printed circuit board.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method ofmanufacturing a printed circuit board having a plurality of circuitlayers with at least one through-hole to connect copper patterns ondifferent layers of the printed circuit board is provided. The methodincludes: drilling at least one through-hole into a laminated structurewith a first solid copper layer and a second solid copper layerrespectively as both outermost layers of the laminated structure;metalizing the drilled circuit layers with the at least onethrough-hole; applying a resist on both outermost layers of thelaminated structure; patterning the resist on both outermost layers ofthe laminated structure to expose the at least one through-hole to anelectrolytic plating solution; electrolytic copper plating the at leastone through-hole with the electrolytic plating solution to plate closethe at least one through-hole; removing the resist; planarizing excesscopper plated on both outermost layers of the laminated structure; andforming a conductive cap on at least one outermost layer of thelaminated structure to cover the copper filled through-hole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, together with the specification, illustrateexemplary embodiments of the present invention, and, together with thedescription, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B are views showing that a plated through-holewith varying degree of copper wrap plate over the surface copper (e.g.,a copper foil at the knee of the through-hole and filled with inkmaterials) can separate from an electrolytic copper plated hole-wall.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views showing a wraparound copper wrapping over outersurface copper (e.g., the copper foil) does help to reduce theoccurrence of surface conductor separation from holes with barrel-platedcopper but increases the surface copper thickness, which makes itdifficult to manufacture some tight geometry designs.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views showing a lower wraparound plating thicknessdoes not completely eliminate the occurrences of surface conductorseparation from the plated hole wall copper. Lower wrap plate isnormally chosen because of tighter designs and geometries.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views showing embodiments of copper plated and/orfilled through-holes with no thermal stress.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing embodiments of copper plated and/orfilled through-holes with 5× thermal stress at 550° F. (Per IPC-TM-650Test Method 2.6.8).

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views showing examples of the surface copper contactbond area (shown by arrows) having through-holes with conductive (FIG.9) and non-conductive (FIG. 10) materials.

FIG. 11 is a view showing an embodiment with increased copper-to-coppersurface contact bond area when compared with the examples of FIGS. 9 and10.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a sample model that compares a simulated0.010″ copper filled hole with a regular plated hole wall of a 0.001″.

FIG. 13 is a view showing a condition leading to excessive expansion ofa via fill plug creating a voided area that causes a “cap to via fillseparation.”

FIG. 14 is a view showing a contracted dish down surface characteristicof via fill materials.

FIG. 15 is a view showing laser microvia embodiment with a thin copperplated cap over non-conductive ink filled hole.

FIG. 16 is a view showing laser microvia embodiment with surface landingarea having improved strength.

FIG. 17 is a view showing a blow through by laser during laser microviadrilling of the thin surface-landing pad of FIG. 15.

FIG. 18 is a view showing an embodiment of a copper plated and/or filledthrough-hole with extreme thermal stress.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart for illustrating a method of manufacturing aprinted circuit board having a plurality of circuit layers with one ormore through-holes to connect copper patterns on different layers of theprinted circuit board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, only certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention have been shown and described,simply by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art wouldrealize, the described embodiments may be modified in various differentways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

In the context of the present invention, a circuit board refers to asub-component printed circuit board (e.g., a sub-component of a circuitboard) or an entire component printed circuit board (e.g., an entirefinished circuit board).

Through-holes are drilled and plated with copper to the minimum requiredhole wall thickness in the printed circuit boards to connect copperpatterns on different layers. In one embodiment, one or more of thethrough-holes are formed by mechanical drilling. In another embodiment,the one or more of the through-holes are formed by laser drilling. Afterplating, some non-component through-holes are filled with conductive ornon-conductive via fill material. This is done to provide extrareliability and to enhance the one or more thermal characteristics ofthese holes. An embodiment of the present invention provides analternative to the conductive or nonconductive ink filled through-holes.This is done to help facilitate the manufacturability and increase thereliability of printed circuit board designs with via fill requirements.In one embodiment of the present invention, through-holes are copperplated closed at both ends with at least 70% volume of the through-holesplated with copper. In another embodiment of the present invention, atleast one of the through-holes is copper plated closed at both ends withat least 70% volume of the through-hole plated with copper. In yetanother embodiment of the present invention, each of the through-holesis copper plated closed at both ends with at least 70% volume of thecorresponding through-hole plated with copper.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a printed circuit boardincludes one or more circuit cores, substrates, or carriers. In onefabrication scheme for the printed circuit board having the one or morecircuit carriers, electronic circuitries (e.g., pads, electronicinterconnects, etc.) are fabricated onto opposite sides of an individualcircuit carrier to form a pair of circuit layers. These circuit layerpairs of the circuit board may then be physically and electronicallyjoined to form the printed circuit board by fabricating an adhesive (ora prepreg or a bond ply), stacking the circuit layer pairs and theadhesives in a press, curing the resulting circuit board structure,drilling through-holes, and then plating the through-holes with copper,as described in more detail below, to interconnect the circuit layerpairs.

In one embodiment, the printed circuit board includes at least two,three, or four circuit layers. In one embodiment, the printed circuitboard includes at least five circuit layers. In one embodiment, theprinted circuit board includes at least six circuit layers. In oneembodiment, the printed circuit board includes at least seven circuitlayers. In one embodiment, the printed circuit board includes at leasteight circuit layers.

In addition, the printed circuit board according to one embodiment ofthe present invention includes a plurality of substrates, each of theplurality of substrates being interposed between one and a correspondingone of the plurality of circuit layers.

A method of laminating a plurality of circuit layers of a printedcircuit board using a single lamination cycle or process is described inmore detail in copending patent application Ser. No. 11/706,473,entitled Printed Circuit Boards With Stacked Micros Vias, filed on Feb.14, 2007, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In one example, manufacturing process steps after a lamination operationhaving a wraparound plating thickness are as followed:

-   -   1. Drill;    -   2. Electroless Copper;    -   3. Panel Plate (0.0004″-0.0008″)—for wraparound copper;    -   4. Clean/Re-Electroless Copper;    -   5. Resist Coat;    -   6. Photo (Dot Pattern) for Through-Holes;    -   7. Barrel Plate—To final customer plating thickness        requirements;    -   8. Resist Strip;    -   9. Via Fill—Conductive or Non-Conductive;    -   10. Planarize—With care to minimize wraparound plate reduction;    -   11. Electroless Copper—to metalize the cap;    -   12. Resist Coat;    -   13. Photo—Image Conductor Pattern;    -   14. Plate Image;    -   15. Resist Strip;    -   16. Etch

An embodiment of the present invention eliminates the need forwraparound copper as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and in the above describedexample to try to hold in place the bond between the surface conductorcopper and the barrel plated copper.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, one embodiment of the present inventionprovides one or more plate-closed through-holes. In one embodiment, theplate-closed through-holes are formed with electrolytic copper plating.A surface conductor (or cap) is then directly plated over the copperfilled barrel plated through-hole (e.g., the cap is plated over thecopper plug of the through-hole). In more detail, FIGS. 7A and 7B showcopper filled through-holes (no wraparound) prior to being thermalstressed (no thermal stress).

Because of the direct plating over a larger surface area of the copperplated hole, the surface conductor does not separate from the copperfilled through-hole even under extreme thermal stress conditions (Tjoint). That is, FIGS. 8A and 8B show copper filled through-holes afterbeing thermal stressed (5× thermal stress). As can be seen in FIGS. 8Aand 8B, the copper filled through-holes do not exhibit any deteriorationin the copper cap bond to the plated copper plug.

FIG. 18 shows a copper filled through-hole that was under an extremethermal stress condition. As can be seen in FIG. 18, even though otherparts of the circuit broad (e.g., the circuit cores, substrates,carriers, circuitries, etc.) have been completely damaged and/ordestroyed by the extreme thermal stress condition, the copper filledthrough-hole remains intact and/or does not exhibit any deterioration inthe copper cap bond to the plated copper plug.

A reason why there is no deterioration in copper cap bond to platedcopper plug is because embodiments of the present invention maximize (orincrease) the contact surface area between the surface conductor and thecopper plug. That is, as shown in FIGS. 9, 10, and 11, the best possiblebonding between two conductors is when copper to copper is connectedwith each other.

In more detail, FIGS. 9 and 10 show a much smaller copper-to-coppercontact bond area than is provided by the copper-to-copper bond area ofFIG. 11. That is, FIGS. 9 and 10 are examples of the surface coppercontact bond area having through-holes plated with minimum requiredcopper thickness and filled with conductive (FIG. 9) and non-conductive(FIG. 10) materials, and FIG. 11 is an embodiment of the presentinvention. Here, the embodiment of FIG. 11 greatly increases thecopper-to-copper surface contact bond area when compared with theexamples of FIGS. 9 and 10 as shown by the arrows in FIGS. 9 and 10.

Referring to FIG. 12, the increase in copper-to-copper surface area canvary for different plated through-hole sizes. FIG. 12 show a samplemodel that compares a simulated 0.010″ copper filled hole with a regularplated hole wall thickness of 0.001″. Also, refer to the following tablefor other calculated examples that illustrate the envisioned examples ofthe present invention with copper filled holes in more detail andcompare these envisioned copper filled hole examples with non-copperfilled hole (Regular) examples (e.g., to highlight the benefit of theenvisioned examples). However, the present invention is not limited bythese envisioned examples.

Surface Contact/Bond Area Comparison Square Mils Regular Regular CopperImproved Hole Plated Bond filled Bond Surface Size Copper Area Area AreaTimes Better 0.006″ 0.001″ 15.7 28.3 12.6 1.8 0.008″ 0.001″ 22.0 50.328.3 2.3 0.010″ 0.001″ 28.3 78.5 50.2 2.8 0.015″ 0.001″ 44.0 176.5 132.54.0 0.020″ 0.001″ 59.7 314.1 254.4 5.3 0.025″ 0.001″ 75.4 490.7 415.36.5 0.030″ 0.001″ 91.1 706.8 615.7 7.8

In view of the foregoing, embodiments of the present invention not onlyprovide a much better direct bonding, but also standardize theCoefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) between the same (orsubstantially the same) plated materials. That is, instead of having thedifferent CTE values between the plated copper cap and the otherindustry used hole filled materials, the CTE for the pure (orsubstantially pure) plated copper cap and the copper plated plugaccording to an embodiment of the present invention is the same (orsubstantially the same).

Embodiments of the present invention can also eliminate (or reduce theeffect) of the following issues:

-   -   1. Reduction of space between conductors on jobs that use the        wraparound process.    -   2. The sporadic separation of the plated cap from the via fill        materials (Conductive or Nonconductive). This is primarily        caused by the entrapped volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from        the via fill materials during their bake curing cycle and/or CTE        differences between plated copper cap and the via fill material        used. This condition leads to excessive expansion of the via        fill plug, creating a voided area that causes the “cap to via        fill separation” as shown by the arrow in FIG. 13. This        condition may cause the printed circuit board to be scrapped.    -   3. The typical contracted dish down surface characteristic of        the other via fill materials as shown by the arrow in FIG. 14 by        providing a more “flatter” surface.    -   4. The typical separation of the T joints as shown in FIGS. 1        and 2 on products without the wraparound process.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention provide:

-   -   1. Improved thermal conductivity due to the fact that solid        copper plugs are a better heat conductor than other via fill        materials.    -   2. Improved electrical continuity contacts on partially        registered through-holes (within IPC requirements as described        above).    -   3. Consistent impedance values on the plated layers with copper        filled holes. This is because of the minimum copper and more        even surface plated distribution obtained by the embodiments of        the present invention.    -   4. Improved dielectric thickness on all sub-laminations between        the sub-outer plated layer and the subsequent laminated layer.    -   5. Improved landing pad for laser microvias. When compared to        the thin surface landing area for laser microvias over        non-conductive material filled hole in FIG. 15, the current idea        provides an improved surface landing area for laser microvias        (FIG. 16). The thin surface-landing pad (FIG. 15) is susceptible        to blow-through by laser during laser microvia drilling (FIG.        17).

In one embodiment of the present invention, manufacturing process stepsafter lamination are as followed:

-   -   1. Drill;    -   2. Electroless Copper;    -   3. Resist Coat (or applying a resist);    -   4. Photo (Dot Pattern) for through-holes;    -   5. Barrel Plate (Special Plating Cycle) to plate close the        through-holes;    -   6. Resist Strip (or remove a resist);    -   7. Planarize Barrel plate image down to the level of the base        copper;    -   8. Clean/Re-Electroless Copper for better resist adhesion;    -   9. Resist Coat (or apply a resist);    -   10. Photo—Image;    -   11. Plate—Image;    -   12. Resist Strip (or remove a resist);    -   13. Etch.

In one embodiment, the electroless copper (or electroless coppering)includes four basic operations: cleaning, activation, acceleration, anddeposition. In addition, an anti-tarnish bath may also be performedafter deposition.

In more detail, the cleaning operation begins with a cleaner-conditionerdesigned to remove organics and condition a plurality of circuit layers(or a circuit board) with one or more through-holes for the subsequentuptake of catalyst. The cleaner-conditioners may include an acidic oralkaline solution.

The activation and acceleration operations may be performed through theuse of a catalyst and two process tanks. That is, a pre-dip tank is usedfor the drag-in protection of the activation or catalyst bath, andusually contains hydrochloric acid and possibly tin or sodium chloride.The activation or catalyst bath includes hydrochloric acid, tinchloride, and/or a palladium chloride. The Sn+2 ion reduces the Pd+2 toPd, which is deposited on the plurality of circuit layers with the oneor more through-holes. The remaining Sn+2 and Sn+4 are selectivelyremoved by the accelerator (also called the post-activator). Suitableaccelerators include fluoboric acid and/or sulfuric acid with hydrazine.

The main constituents of the electroless copper chemistry are sodiumhydroxide, formaldehyde, EDTA (or other chelater), and a copper salt. Inthe complex reaction, catalyzed by palladium, formaldehyde reduces thecopper ion to metallic copper.

In one embodiment, the barrel plate (or plating) is a electrolyticcopper plating process based on positively charged conductivity andreactions of the plating metals (i.e., copper) and electrons.

In one embodiment, the process of the copper plating process is composedof four important parts:

-   -   1. Cathode—the negative electrode in electrolysis, where        negative electrons are created and positive ions are discharged;        it is the object (i.e., the circuit board) that is going to be        plated;    -   2. Anode—positive electrode in the electrolysis, where negative        ion are discharged and positive ions are created; it is of the        same material as the plating metal;    -   3. Electrolyte—conducting medium where the flow of current is        with the movement of matter (e.g., aqueous solutions such as        acids, bases and salts);    -   4. Direct current—the electricity that passes from the anode to        the cathode.

Here, in the plating process, as the direct current passes from theanode through the electrolyte, it brings positive ions of the platingmetal to the cathode. It is then joined with negative electrons createdby the cathode and transforms into the metal coating. The metal coatingbonds to the cathode and thus the electroplating process is complete.

In one embodiment of the present invention and referring to FIG. 19, aprinted circuit board having a plurality of circuit layers with one ormore through-holes to connect copper patterns on different layers of theprinted circuit board is manufactured by first laminating the pluralityof circuit layers with each other to form the circuit board with a firstsolid copper layer and a second solid copper layer respectively as bothoutermost layers of the circuit board (Lamination). The one or morethrough-holes are then drilled into the laminated circuit layers(Drill). The drilled circuit layers with the one or more through-holesare then metalized or, more specifically, electroless coppered(Electroless Cu Plate). A resist (e.g. a photo resist) is then coated onboth outermost layers of the circuit layers, and the resist on thecircuit layers is patterned to expose the one or more through-holes toan electrolytic plating solution (Outer Layer Imaging). The one or morethrough-holes are then copper plated with the electrolytic platingsolution to plate close the one or more through-holes (Cu Barrel Plate)and as described above in more detail. The resist is then removed orstriped, and excess copper plated on both outermost layers of thecircuit layers is then planarized. Then, one or more conductive caps areformed to cover the one or more copper filled through-holes on one orboth outermost layers of the circuit layers to form the printed circuitboard having the plurality of circuit layers with the one or more copperfilled through-holes.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a conductive cap is formedto cover a copper filled through-hole by first cleaning/electrolesscoppering the planarized circuit layers. Then, a second resist (e.g., asecond photo resist) is coated on both outermost layers of the circuitlayers with the one or more copper filled through-holes. The secondresist on at least one outermost layer of the circuit layers is thenpatterned to image the conductive cap on the copper filled through-hole.The conductive cap is then directly copper plated over the copper filledthrough-hole, and the second resist is removed or stripped. Then, anouter layer of the plurality of circuit layers with the one or morecopper filled through-holes are etched (Outer Layer Etch) to connectcopper patterns on different layers of the printed circuit board torealize the printed circuit board having the plurality of circuit layerswith the one or more copper filled through-holes.

The present invention, however, is not limited by the method asdescribed above. As an example in another embodiment of the presentinvention and still referring to FIG. 19, a method of manufacturing aprinted circuit board having a plurality of circuit layers with at leastone through-hole to connect copper patterns on different layers of theprinted circuit board is provided. The method includes: drilling atleast one through-hole into a laminated structure with a first solidcopper layer and a second solid copper layer respectively as bothoutermost layers of the laminated structure; metalizing the drilledcircuit layers with the at least one through-hole; applying a resist onboth outermost layers of the laminated structure; patterning the resiston both outermost layers of the laminated structure to expose the atleast one through-hole to an electrolytic plating solution; electrolyticcopper plating the at least one through-hole with the electrolyticplating solution to plate close the at least one through-hole; removingthe resist; planarizing excess copper plated on both outermost layers ofthe laminated structure; and forming a conductive cap on one or bothoutermost layers of the laminated structure to cover the copper filledthrough-hole.

While the invention has been described in connection with certainexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood by those skilled in theart that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but,on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications includedwithin the spirit and scope of the present invention, and equivalentsthereof.

What is claimed is: 1-8. (canceled)
 9. A printed circuit boardcomprising: a plurality of circuit layers, each of the plurality ofcircuit layers having a copper pattern; at least one copper filledthrough-hole adapted to connect the copper patterns on different layersof the plurality of circuit layers, wherein the at least one copperfilled though-hole is electrolytic copper plated closed at both ends ofthe at least one copper filled though-hole.
 10. The printed circuitboard of claim 9, further comprising a conductive cap adapted to coverthe at least one copper filled through-hole.
 11. The printed circuitboard of claim 9, wherein the at least one copper filled through-hole isa mechanical drilled through-hole.
 12. The printed circuit board ofclaim 9, further comprising a conductive cap copper plated directly overthe at least one copper filled through-hole.
 13. The printed circuitboard of claim 9, wherein the at least one copper filled through-holecomprises at least 70% by volume of copper.
 14. The printed circuitboard of claim 9, wherein the at least one copper filled through-holecomprises a plurality of through-holes electrolytic copper plated closedat both ends with at least 70% volume of the through-holes plated withcopper.
 15. The printed circuit board of claim 9, wherein the at leastone copper filled through-hole comprises a plurality of through-holes,and wherein each of the plurality of through-holes is electrolyticcopper plated closed at both ends with at least 70% volume of thecorresponding through-hole plated with copper.
 16. The printed circuitboard of claim 9, wherein the at least one copper filled through-hole isa barrel plated through-hole.
 17. The printed circuit board of claim 9,wherein the at least one copper filled through-hole comprises enoughelectrolytic plated copper to plate close both ends of the at least onecopper filled though-hole.
 18. The printed circuit board of claim 9,wherein the at least one copper filled through-hole enhances a thermalcharacteristic of the printed circuit board.
 19. The printed circuitboard of claim 9, wherein the printed circuit board is a sub-componentprinted circuit board or an entire component printed circuit board. 20.(canceled)